To discuss the following matters raised by Local Council’s:
Minutes:
(a) Functionality of the iplan System
Concern had been expressed by the Local Councils that the system was not improving but had become increasingly unusable with upload and download problems, plus lack of access. The Vice-Chairman stated that problems had been experienced in viewing plans on screen as not all of the Local Councils had suitable computers. It was suggested that a Working Party be set up between the Local Councils and District Council Officers to resolve problems with the system.
The Committee was informed that a national e-plan hub would be implemented shortly, which would utilise electronic documents rather than paper plans. The new system would enable users to view the plans and any representations received for a particular application. The system would reach Local Councils in the late autumn, with a further third stage planned giving the public access. Training in the new system was currently being undertaken by District Council Planning Officers and would be offered to Local Councils in due course. The problem whereby personal computers could not view the plans had been recently fixed but there was awareness that searches could cause problems in using the system. The District Council was willing to offer advice to the Local Councils and help was also freely available from District Council Planning Officers. The District Council apologised for any long-term problems with the system but reassured the Local Councils that a number of them had now been resolved. The Local Councils were informed that their point of contact for the iplan system was the District Council’s Landscape Officer & Arboriculturist, Chris Neilan (01992 564117).
The Local Councils felt that there were some serious problems for rural communities. Many of their Village Halls, where their Planning Meetings were held, did not have phone lines and hence internet access. Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding Parish Council was cited as an example; it had no Parish Office, a part-time clerk, no broadband, no internet enabled computer, and therefore no access to the plans. There needed to be good quality broadband access throughout the District before the District Council removed access to paper plans. In addition, the Parish Councils should be advised of the timetable for the e-plan implementation and specifically when access to paper plans would be removed.
The Deputy Chief Executive reassured the Local Councils that the District Council would not disenfranchise any Local Councils and the move to new technology would not prevent rural Parish Councils from accessing hardcopies of the plans. The Deputy Chief Executive offered to facilitate the resolution of the problems by arranging dialogue between the Director of Planning & Economic Development, key ICT officers and representatives of the Local Councils. It was suggested that in the short term, Parish Councils could perhaps share expertise and equipment whilst the problems were being resolved.
(b) Waste Collection Services for Village Halls
The Local Councils had been advised that the District Council had reached a decision regarding waste collection services for Village Halls. Recyclables that were sorted would be collected free of charge, whilst residual rubbish would subject to a recharge. Clarification had been requested upon the procedure to be operated.
The Assistant Director (Engineering Services) informed the Committee that the impending implementation of the new waste collection service in September had delayed the implementation of the new collection arrangements for Village Halls. It was confirmed that the new arrangements, which had been agreed by the Cabinet, would instigate charges for the collection of residual waste but not the collection of recyclable materials.
The Committee felt that the administration of the recharges would be expensive and did not like Village Halls being treated as commercial rather than community buildings. There was surprise expressed that this change had not been discussed at a previous meeting of the Committee. Whilst there had been a huge public consultation exercise undertaken in respect of all the changes to the waste management service, including a large number of roadshows that had been ably assisted by Parish Clerks. The Deputy Chief Executive apologised for the matter not having been previously discussed by the Committee. The Committee felt that the District Council should reinstate the free collection of residual waste from Village Halls and the Environment Portfolio Holder was requested to review the decision at the earliest possible opportunity.
(c) District Council Support for Parishes with Village Planning
The Local Councils felt that support was lacking for those Parishes that sought to ensure their local communities had some influence over the planning process for their settlements through Village Planning.
The Committee was informed that Village Design Statements and Parish Plans could be drawn up and would be considered within the Planning system. The District Council could offer assistance to the Local Councils with this process and inform them of any toolkits available. The Committee felt that, although the Essex Rural Council provided guidance, simpler localised guidance from the District Council would be very helpful.
(d) Planning Enforcement
The Local Councils had expressed concern about the effectiveness of the Planning Enforcement function, including the resources allocated to it, thus making it ineffective in preventing abuse of the planning system. Particular concern had been expressed about the damage being done to footpaths and highways by developers, and that they should be made responsible for repairing such damage from their site operations.
It was emphasised to the Committee that damage to highways could not be conditioned; planning conditions could only be applied to the application site itself not the adjacent highways. For clarification, the meeting was advised that the bond paid by the District Council to the County Council for possible highways damage had been a condition of the Section 278 agreement for the redevelopment of Bobbingworth Tip.
The Committee felt that Highways should be more pro-active in the Planning process over highways damage, and that better liaison was required between the District Council and the County Highways office. It was also felt that the issue should be considered by the new Local Highways Panel.
The Deputy Chief Executive informed the Committee that the Planning Services Scrutiny Panel was undertaking a review of planing enforcement and that the Director of Planning & Economic Development had been tasked to find additional resources for the Enforcement function. The District Council recognised the importance of Planning Enforcement, however it was highlighted that some planning enforcement issues did take a long time to resolve.
RESOLVED:
(1) That the point of contact for Local Councils experiencing problems with the iplan system be Chris Neilan (01992 564117);
(2) That, in order to resolve the ongoing problems with access to the iplan system, dialogue was required between the Director of Planning & Economic Development supported by key ICT Officers and the Local Council representatives; and
(3) That the decision by the District Council to recharge Parish Councils for the collection of residual waste be reviewed by the Environment Portfolio Holder at the earliest possible opportunity.